In the early to mid 1800s, President Andrew Jackson and his VP, Martin Van Buren, ran into major economic downturns due to poor financial decision making. Private individuals started to issue copper coinage with political and commerce themes which are today known as Hard Times Tokens. They are avidly collected and various reference books are available, notably Rulau's Standard Catalog of United States Tokens.

A search on eBay produces hundreds of listings. Typical catalog values run like this: